Air heating furnace simulating a fireplace



March 9,1954 R, R DUPLER 2,671,440

AIR HEATING FURNACE SIMULATING A FIREPLACE Filed April 26. 1950 INVENToR.

Ray/7700004? 00p/ef' ctgu: AIR CHAMBER Emil L] p I M MA1-JL,

I E. E" ATrORNEY Patented Mar. 9, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR HEATING FURNACE SIMULATING A FIREPLACE 4 Claims.

This invention relates tc household heating devices, but more particularly to a hot air furnace for heating one or more rooms of a house.

An object is to produce a new and improved hot air furnace for installation in a room to simulate a fireplace and which not only efliciently warms the air for one or more rooms, but also is attractive in appearance enabling the iire to be seen from the room in which it is installed for occupying a minimum amount of space.

Another object is to produce a hot air heating unit which can be installed in a room simulating in appearance the ordinary flreplace and having the desirable features of a replace from the standpoint of appearance and ability to see the furnace ame and enabling the products of combustion to be efficiently employed for heating the air which may be directed to one or more rooms.

A further object is to produce a hot air furnace of the above character having the new and improved features of construction, arrangement and operation hereinafter described.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear, and for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a front elevation of the fireplace heating unit mounted in position of use;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional elevation substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the furnace shown in Figure 2 with the contro1 damper in another position of adjustment.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a hot air heating furnace or unit H which simulates in appearance the conventional replace and is mounted in the side wall of the room so as to be substantially flush with the adjacent walls. As shown, I represents the oor of the room under` which are the usual joists Il. I2 represents the side wall of the room which has a fireplace-like opening into which the heating unit H ts. To accommodate the cold air plenum chamber I3 on the bottom portion of the unit, an opening I 4 in the floor ID between adjacent joists II is provided.

The heating unit H is, in the main, fabricated from sheet metal and is formed with a rear vertical wall I5 and a front vertical wall I6 which has an opening Il in the lower central portion to accommodate a pair of hingedly mounted glass doors I8, each having a pull knob I9 so that the doors can be swung outwardly or into the room whenever desired. Directly in rear of the glass doors I8 is a combustion or heating chamber which has a bottom wall 2I which terminates short of the rear wall I5 and has an integral upwardly extending rear wall 22, preferably of stainless steel for its light reflective properties.

The back wall extends vertically upward from the bottom wall 2I for a short distance and thence gradually curves upwardly and forwardly as indicated, terminating in an upwardly extending wall portion 23 spaced rearwardly from the front wall It to provide an air passage 24 for the products of combustion and gases. Supported on the iloor 2l of the heating chamber 20 is a burner assembly 25 which, in this instance, is in the form of a gas burner, the front portion having a pair of simulated logs 25a perforated to permit the passage of combustible gas as will be readily understood. Directly in rear of the logs 25a. is a radiant heater 25h which projects its heat toward the rear wall 22. The burner assembly is mounted on a platform 26 to elevate it slightly from the bottom wall 2l. It is to be understood that any suitable type of burner may be used for the purpose employing gas, oil or other fuel.

To supply air for the burner, a plurality of vertically disposed open-ended tubes 21 in the bottom wall 2l of the burner chamber lead to the cold air or plenum chamber I3, and disposed in these tubes are buttery valves 28 which are conjoined by a rod 2S)v leading to a suitable control handle thereby to enable manual regulation of the air supplied to the burner.

The Vertical wall portion 23 which is joined to the upper end of the curved rear wall of the heating chamber is fixed to a horizontally extending panel 30 which connects at its rear end to the rear wall I5 of the unit. Spaced above the panel 30 is a panel 3 I, the rear end of which is spaced from the rear wall I5 and the forward end is spaced from the front wall I6, and `joined to the front end of the panel 3| is a vertical panel 32, the upper end of which is xed to a horizontal panel 33 which is parallel to the panel 3l.

Pivotally connected to the rear end of the panel 33 is a flap or valve 34 which can be swung upwardly to close the space between the panel 33 and a horizontal wall 35. The valve 34 can also be swung to a horizontal position against a stop 36 in alignment with the panel 33. A panel 31 has its rear end secured to the rear wall I5 of the unit, and is disposed between the panels 3l and 33 in parallel relation, the front end terminating short of the vertical panel or wall 32. Directly above the valve or damper 34 is a vertically disposed passage 28 which connects to the usual chimney iiue. It will be understood that the passage 38 is co-extensive with the valve 34 to afford ready egress for gases and products of combustion, the same converging to a narrower passage or flue (not shown) leading to the chimney.

Disposed above the panel 35 is a hot air manifold or plenum chamber 39 which has side walls @D and a top Wall 4l covered with suitable insulation 42. Extending through aligned apertures in the panels or walls 30, 3|, 3l, 33 and 35 is a series of open ended tubes 43, the lower ends of which receive air from a cold air plenum chamber I3 which rises through the passage 114 receiving .some heat from the rear wall 22 of the heating chamber 2G. The air thence passes upwardly through the tubes '53 to the hot air manifold or plenum chamber 3d Yand thence laterally to ducts e5 at the right hand side (Figure 1) and 46 .on the left hand side, these ducts leading to the respective 'rooms to be heated. At opposite end portions of the hot air manifold 39, are electrically driven blowers -fi Aand 48 which are controlled in any suitable manner, either manually or thermestatically, for forcing the air through the ducts. As shown, a damper 43 is disposed in each of the outlet ducts l5 and 45 to regulate the volume Aof air forced therethrough. It will Abe observed from Figure l that the vertical tubes i3 are arranged in rows and cover a substantial portion of the panels so as to enable a sizable volume Aof air to be handled. Vertical passages 59 and "5l are `provided Aat 'opposite ends of the unit and arranged on the outer sides of the glass doors i8. These passages extend down to Aa position adjacent the bottom -wall 2| of the heating chamber 2Q with which they connect by 'lateral openings v52.

Thecold air or air to be heated is delivered to 4the plenum chamber l 3 byfducts or pipes 53 which extend between `the joists -to suitable registers in the rooms to be heated, as will be readly understood. The number-and arrangement of the :cold

air pipes 53 will depend upon the arrangement of the furnace with relation to the studdi-ng -as well as the number of rooms to vbe heated and 4volume of air to be handled.

From the above description, it will be manifest that the heated gases -or products of combustion from the burner in the heating 'chamber '2.3 rise and may take one or two paths. These 4gases may rise vertically through the passage a to the passage 'o and thence laterally through the passage b to the flue 38 as shown in Figure 3. In this position, the valve or damper 35. is in its horizontal position in alignment with the wall or panel 33. This is the more direct path of gases to the flue and is employed when-a lesser amount of heat is required since the air to Vbe heated has less opportunity7 to be in heat exchange relationship with the heated gases from the heating chamber 2B.

On vthe other hand, when it is desired to utilize the vmaximum heat from the products of combustion discharged from the `heating chamber 20, the damper 34 is placed in a vertically disposed position as shown in Figure 2. In this instance, the heated gases from the 'heating chamber 20 pass laterally through the passage c, thence to the passage e, directly above it and .to which it communicates at the rear. From the passage e, thegases pass .upwardly and horizontally through the passage f with which it communicates at the front end and then upwardly to the ue 3B. Thus the gases pass in a tortuous or circuitous route in contact with a substantial area of the tubes 43 through which the air to be heated passes. It will be understood that the air is somewhat preheated before it reaches the tubes 43 due to the heat radiated from the rearwall 22 of the heating chamber 29.

From the above description, it will be understood that by manipulation of the damper 34 either to its horizontal position or to its vertical position, the heating of the air which is delivered to the rooms can be controlled. If greater amount of heat is desired, then the damper should be in its vertical position, thereby causing the heated gases to pass through a tortuous path and bringing these gases into contact repeatedly with the tubes through which the cold air or air from the rooms, passes. On the other hand, if lesser amount of heat is desired, then the damper 34 is swung to its horizontally disposed position as indicated in Figure 3, enabling `the gases from the heating chamber to vpass in a more direct route to the flue. Manifestly, the damper may be moved to a position intermediate its horizontal and vertical positions enabling gases not only to pass through the circuitous or tortuous route indicated in Figure 2, but also enabling a portion of these gases to pass through the `horizontal path b. In this manner, a wider range of heat control may be achieved. It will be understood that the damper 34 may be actuated in any suitable manner, either manually or thermostatically, but since the means in which it is actuated forms no part of the present invention, further description thereof is not considered necessary.

It is to be understood lthat numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention especially as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A furnace simulating a replace, comprising means providing a heater chamber, Aa radiant heater in said chamber, a cold air chamber in restricted communication with the lower portion of the lheater chamber, a duct leading from said cold air chamber and extending vertically therefrom, a flue, means disposed above the heater chamber providing a passage communieating with such heater chamber and with the iiue, a series of baffle plates positioned within such passage and arranged to provide a tortuous path of flow therethrough, means providing a second passage extending directly from the heater chamber to the flue, a damper shiftable between a position closing said last passage thereby to cause the products of combustion to pass through the tortuous path and a position closing said tortuous path thereby to cause the products vof combustion to pass through said last passage, a hot air manifold above said passages and having outlets, and tube means extending through said baie plates and providing a communication between said hot air manifold and 'the upper portion of said cold air duct, said tube means also extending through said second passage whereby when said damper is positioned to close said tortuous path, the products of combustion then passing through said second passage heat the air passing through the tube means toa lesser degree.

2. A .furnace as .claimed in claim 1, in which the cold air duct is directly in rear of said :heater chamber to be partially heated thereby, and means providing ducts on opposite sides of the heater chamber and having restricted communication with the lower portion thereof at the bottom and communicating at the top with said hot air manifold.

3. A furnace as claimed in claim l, in which the baiile plates are so arranged that the tortuous path is of serpentine form, certain bailie plates being arranged in parallel relation, and end closure means connecting alternate plates at the ends thereof, the intermediate baie plates being spaced inwardly from said end closure means.

4. A furnace simulating a fireplace, comprising means providing a heater chamber, a translucent wall for the front of said heater chamber, a cold air chamber in restricted communication with the lower portion of the heater chamber, a duct leading from said cold air chamber and extending vertically therefrom, a flue, means disposed above the heater chamber providing a. passage communicating with such heater chamber and with the flue, a series of baiiie plates positioned within such passage and arranged to provide a tortuous path of flow therethrough, means providing a second passage extending directly from the heater chamber to the ue, a damper shiftable between a position closing said last passage thereby to cause the products of combustion to pass through the tortuous path and a position closing said tortuous path thereby to cause the products of combustion to pass through said last passage, a hot air manifold above said passages and having outlets, and tube means extending through said bafe plates and providing a communication between said hot air manifold and the upper portion of said cold air duct, said tube means also extending through said second passage whereby when said damper is positioned to close said tortuous path, the products of combustion then passing through said second passage heat the air passing through the tube means to a lesser degree, and two heaters disposed Within the heater chamber arranged one in front of the other, the front heater being of the open iiame type visible through said translucent wall and the heater in rear constituting a radiant heater.

RAYMOND R. DUPLER.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,383,506 Westerlund July 5, 1921 1,444,163 Brunett Feb. 6, 1923 1,568,816 Elson Jan. 5, 1926 1,571,741 Smith Feb. 2, 1926 1,991,513 Moore Feb. 19, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 257,202 Great Britain Aug. 26, 1926 

